The neighbourhood business improvement association has narrowed the pool down to Punkie, a teen panda with a flaming mohawk and rimless sunglasses who is pictured sucking coolly on a bamboo sprig, and Muse, a smaller panda with a huge paintbrush slung over its back. Both characters sport vibrant spiral tattoos.

The winner will be fêted during this year’s Chinatown Festival celebrating the 125th anniversary of the neighbourhood in downtown Vancouver.

The mascots that didn’t make the cut were decidedly less huggable. The BIA first considered a compass, an abacus and elements of Chinese art and architecture before settling on the endangered bear, which was already mascot for the World Wildlife Fund and one of five mascots for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

“We visited various literal and abstract ideas of how this mascot could take form,” said Chris Chan of Definium Design. “After a few exercises and scenarios, a panda just seemed like the best fit to all the goals we’ve established.”

The idea, added Mr. Chan, is to “draw a strong and believable connection with the audience so they can really care” about Chinese heritage.

To this end, the pandas were given biographies full of homages to their native homeland. Punkie was meant to be the 13th animal in the Chinese zodiac, but was passed over because his counter-culture hairdo was deemed too risqué. Muse is imbued with good-luck vibes that she brought with her to Vancouver.

“Through their stories, they had to have a moral and a positive lesson to teach to the youths,” Mr. Chan said. Punkie’s motto is “It’s OK to be different!” and Muse’s is “Keep on moving forward and working hard — good things will happen.”

Vancouverites will vote on the mascots throughout June. The winning bear could get a sidekick and, depending on its reception, be merchandized in a line of products, including T-shirts and dolls.

Comments posted on the voting site suggest the more conservative bear, Muse, is doing better than than his nonconformist friend.

“Muse is definitely more inspiring,” wrote one commenter. “He has a clear culturally relevant story, whereas Punkie is basically an outcast? Not very positive and spirited.”

“Muse is much more versatile than Punkie for marketing, for the ‘cute’ factor (merchandising), and tends to be a more positive role model,” wrote another. “This is a mascot for Chinatown, not the [Downtown East Side].”